Weekly wrapup, 6 – 10 August 2007

Here’s a summary of the week’s digital lifestyle action on last100. Note that you can subscribe to the weekly wrapups, either via the special weekly wrapup RSS feed or by email.

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Top digital lifestyle news

Kicking off the week, we reported on Amazon’s investment in AmieStreet.com. The social music site has a unique business model where all songs start off free and rise in price — up to 98 cents — the more they are purchased.

Next up we reported that there are moves in the U.S. Senate to push for the controversial V-Chip to be embedded into more devices — such as computers, games consoles and mobile phones — in order give parents greater control over what their children are able to watch. The V-Chip, which has been compulsory in all televisions sold in the States since January 2000, allows parents to set filters which will block out content above certain rating levels.

According to a local news report, a number of Spanish broadcasters are considering suing Zattoo.  The service, which streams traditional television over the Internet, is ad-supported, where an advertisement is displayed for 5 seconds every time a user switches channel — and this appears to be the potential cause of dispute, with some of Spain’s television stations unhappy that Zattoo is profiting from their content.

More digital lifestyle news:

Features

Our first feature of the week was a look at the BBC’s newly launched catch-up service, iPlayer. In his extensive review, Ryan Jarrett concluded that while there are still lots of questions regarding the use of DRM and the restrictive use of Microsoft products, “it’s the volume and quality of the content that makes the iPlayer special”.

In a post titled ‘What’s next for the AppleTV?‘, we examined what Apple’s set-top-box is capable of today, along with its shortcomings, and how the company might develop the device in the future. In a follow up post, we also published a guide to some of the best AppleTV resources on the web, including reviews, tutorials and hacks.

Following a press event in which Apple CEO, Steve Jobs, unveiled new iMacs and major updates to the company’s iLife and iWork software suites, we noted how the Apple/Google alliance is getting stronger, through greater integration between the two companies’ product lines.

Finally, we published a Q&A with the founders of Internet TV service, Zattoo (prior to reports of unrest amongst Spanish broadcasters), to find out more about the company’s mission and its Silicon Valley-esque roots in academia.

Video of the week

OK, rename that “Videos of the week”, as we take a look at five stunning HD video podcasts.

Dan Langendorf writes:

I chose to watch five HD video podcasts from the Featured Video Podcasts tab at the iTMS — “DiveFilm,” “Hidden Universe,” “Beautiful Places,” “Cool Hunting Video,” and “TRGtv”. These “programs” range from user-generated content to indie professionals. I’ve always heard from my HD buddies that the best HD has to offer is seen in nature shows, and these do not disappoint even as downloadable content.

Let me say it again: Wow.

That’s it for another week. Have a great weekend!

last100 is edited by Steve O'Hear. Aside from founding last100, Steve is co-founder and CEO of Beepl and a freelance journalist who has written for numerous publications, including TechCrunch, The Guardian, ZDNet, ReadWriteWeb and Macworld, and also wrote and directed the Silicon Valley documentary, In Search of the Valley. See his full profile and disclosure of his industry affiliations.

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